URBACT

September is taking us back to school and business! From the 2026 URBACT University, available online courses and upcoming events, to the 2026 URBACT City Festival, the European Week for Regions and Cities and the EU City Lab on Housing, the season is packed as usual! For the back-to-school season, why not boost your integrated policy-making skills?

Public procurement and municipal budgeting rarely attract public attention. It is a part of the city administration that is hidden behind closed doors or complex decision-making processes, long before residents see the result. Yet across Europe, cities are proving that these tools could fulfil their purpose better when a select group of people is intentionally invited into the process. All six practices featured in this article were selected among 116 URBACT Good Practices awarded in 2024.

The European Commission defines nature-based solutions as “solutions that are inspired and supported by nature, which are cost-effective, simultaneously provide environmental, social and economic benefits and help build resilience”. As cities face climate change, biodiversity loss and urban sprawl, many of them are looking to adopt nature-based solutions as an organising principle for urban development projects.

For Cork (IE), car-free Sundays started as an URBACT Testing Action, a small-scale experiment used to explore an idea before committing to a permanent solution. Opening the city's Marina for play allowed residents, community groups and city officials to experience a familiar riverside road differently. The confidence and shared evidence built through the experiment helped pave the way for its permanent pedestrianisation.

The URBACT flagship capacity-building event makes a comeback this summer, find out more! Closed to URBACT beneficiaries Location Cork , Ireland Organiser URBACT Programme The 2026 URBACT University will take place in Cork, Ireland on 25-27 August 2026. URBACT's flagship capacity-building event on stakeholder engagement and participatory approaches will gather representatives of current URBACT Transfer Networks.

Webinar 1. What do EU cities really know? Social data needs, challenges and turning it into policy Cities across four URBACT Action Planning Networks (One Health 4 Cities, U.R. Impact, NextGen YouthWork, and Cities@Heart) identified a shared challenge: social data was being collected, but rarely used systematically to diagnose problems, target interventions, or measure real impact. The networks joined forces to pool their experience and co-develop practical answers.

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